The Green Mountain Wanderer – A DIY Composite F-450 Build

[rickgibbs]

Love the design and write up!

You mention 1.6m frp….. did you mean 1.6mm thick frp?

Whoops. yeah, 1.6mm

Any idea on how much glue per square foot you used (per blue joint)? I am trying to guesstimate how much I would need to copy you.

For gluing up the panels, I think we went through 2 - 28oz tubes of PL per 4x8 panel. For mounting the panels to the frame, I think we ended up in the 30-40 10oz tubes of Sika 252 but I lost count along the way. I ended up with multiple orders to mcmaster along the way.

I may follow in your footsteps. I plan to skip the honeycomb part. I called my sales rep and he recommended 3mm skin in both sides, which would be around $5k plus shipping.

3m seems very thick to me and I believe others used thinner than me on their projects. 1.6m is very stiff and the panels are rock solid and I would imagine 3mm might be pretty hard to work with.

What prep did you do on the FRP gel coat to glue to your frame?

We lightly sanded with 80 grit, cleaned then used sika 207 primer on both the FRP and the exoskeleton. I learned of this method from the Everlanders and it seemed to work great.

 

[rickgibbs]

The camper started to finally take shape (literally) after we installed the panels. Before installing each panel, we scuffed the gel coat on the FRP and primed it along with the aluminum with Sika 207. We used VHB to create a spacing for the glue (Sika 252) on each of the profiles then held the panels in place with butterfly rivets. The hardest part of the process was moving the panels around with just two of us, but we purchased some suction cup handles and they were a life saver.

We ended up using a laster to square everything up and make the proper cuts from the raw panels:




The hardest panel to install was the roof, but with some creative clamping and some raw muscle we were able to get it into place





Lots and lots of riveting but it was very satisfying work





We also pre-wired all the marker lights and ceiling lights via some u channel that we embedded in the roof panel



And of course my co-worker was there to test out the cabover



Tough to get a shot of the entire camper in the shop, but more pictures coming ...

 

[ITTOG]

What are butterfly rivets? I did a search and this is all I found.

 

[Jonnyo]

The camper started to finally take shape (literally) after we installed the panels. Before installing each panel, we scuffed the gel coat on the FRP and primed it along with the aluminum with Sika 207. We used VHB to create a spacing for the glue (Sika 252) on each of the profiles then held the panels in place with butterfly rivets. The hardest part of the process was moving the panels around with just two of us, but we purchased some suction cup handles and they were a life saver.

We ended up using a laster to square everything up and make the proper cuts from the raw panels:

View attachment 721963
View attachment 721964

The hardest panel to install was the roof, but with some creative clamping and some raw muscle we were able to get it into place

View attachment 721965

View attachment 721966

Lots and lots of riveting but it was very satisfying work

View attachment 721967

View attachment 721968

We also pre-wired all the marker lights and ceiling lights via some u channel that we embedded in the roof panel

View attachment 721969

And of course my co-worker was there to test out the cabover

View attachment 721970

Tough to get a shot of the entire camper in the shop, but more pictures coming ...

View attachment 721971

how much sika flex 207 primer did you need? also, what s the plan for joining the pannel inside?!

 

[rickgibbs]

What are butterfly rivets? I did a search and this is all I found.
View attachment 722020

Thats amazing. A buddy called them butterfly rivets and I guess that stuck. They are tri-fold rivets that I got here:

 

[rickgibbs]

how much sika flex 207 primer did you need? also, what s the plan for joining the pannel inside?!

I think I used 4 bottles total. We also glued the panels to each other but no joints on the inside

 

[Ramdough]

Whoops. yeah, 1.6mm


For gluing up the panels, I think we went through 2 - 28oz tubes of PL per 4x8 panel. For mounting the panels to the frame, I think we ended up in the 30-40 10oz tubes of Sika 252 but I lost count along the way. I ended up with multiple orders to mcmaster along the way.


3m seems very thick to me and I believe others used thinner than me on their projects. 1.6m is very stiff and the panels are rock solid and I would imagine 3mm might be pretty hard to work with.



We lightly sanded with 80 grit, cleaned then used sika 207 primer on both the FRP and the exoskeleton. I learned of this method from the Everlanders and it seemed to work great.

Is that one 28oz tube per side or 2 per side?

Thanks in advance!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rickgibbs]

Is that one 28oz tube per side or 2 per side?

Thanks in advance!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Per side. We had to work hard to spread it thin enough and always had an extra tube laying around if we came up short on a panel.

 

[ITTOG]

Thats amazing. A buddy called them butterfly rivets and I guess that stuck. They are tri-fold rivets that I got here:

Those I am familiar with. Thanks for the response.

 

[ben_j_c]

Looks great @rickgibbs !

We used 5052 and 3/16" for the frame which in hindsight made a bomber structure, but I would probably do 1/8" next time around. The profiles ended up being angled and we had a 3" overlap wherever we were gluing

We went with 1/8" I think it was the right choice, very strong and kept it shape during construction, but not too heavy, time will tell though!

Once these rigs are all done we should plan a trip, I bet our girls would have fun together!

 

[ITTOG]

@rickgibbs any updates? At the pace you were going I assume you are about finished.

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[rickgibbs]

@rickgibbs any updates? At the pace you were going I assume you are about finished.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

Finished and went on a nice trip this summer. I got consumed with the build and let the posting die off. Over the holiday, my plan is to update the thread with the rest of the build and start posting again on the updates I am making.

 

[ITTOG]

Finished and went on a nice trip this summer. I got consumed with the build and let the posting die off. Over the holiday, my plan is to update the thread with the rest of the build and start posting again on the updates I am making.

Awesome. I just wanted to make sure we don't miss out on your progress. Thanks.

 

[rickgibbs]

Awesome. I just wanted to make sure we don't miss out on your progress. Thanks.

Here is one picture of the completed camper from our trip this summer. I was pretty stoked that nothing broke, leaked, or caught fire.

 

[trackhead]

Awesome work and cool pics of kiddos helping out